I was indoctrinated into our unofficial San Fernando Valley Black Oak Arkansas brother/sisterhood at the ripe age of 9 by my two older brothers who had been turned on by BOA's show-stealing set at Cal Jam 1.

Not long after they returned from that gig, I began to notice this incredible sound emanating from my brother David's room (along with that very familiar pungent waft of cannabis). I also began to hear the familiar refrain of my mother screaming towards my brother's room, "TURN THAT SHIT DOWN!!!!!"

One day, I decided to investigate what all the furor was about. I went into my brother's room and discovered that the source of that incredible sound was BOA's "If An Angel Came to See You, Would You Make Her Feel At Home?". I was immediately entranced and enchanted. I came back later, when my brother was gone, and helped myself to that album, as well as "Street Party" and "High on the Hog". I listened to them all, and a BOA freak was born.

My brothers and I, and their friends, spontaneously became kind of an informal BOA boys club. Everything we did involved BOA, listening to them, talking about them, reviewing their material, etc. And, of course, Jim Dandy was our most sacred object of worship. And why not? He was/is an incredible role model for us. Definitely a true rocker's rocker, and the chicks really went for him, especially with that long blond hair, star buckle, and the trademark bulge. We all wanted to BE Jim Dandy! We even changed our term, "Bro's Honor?" to "Swear to Jim Dandy?", when challenging the veracity of someone's honor. If someone "Swore to Jim", you knew they were telling the absolute truth, because the consequences of violating that were, well, unimaginable to us.......

Live! Mutha,
My First Concert!

Cut to Mother's Day, 1975, parking lot of the Long Beach Auditorium, a bunch of us in the back of Steve Swan's VW van, anxiously awaiting the time when the doors would open for the show. But first there was work to do. Pot needed to be smoked, beer must be consumed, and windowpane had to be cut up and dispensed for ingestion. I passed on the acid, I was pretty precocious for my age, but a little too young yet for psychedelics. They would happen a few years later (Grateful Dead at UCLA, but that's another story.....).

In the auditorium now. The opening acts, Strawbs and Montrose, had the crowd warmed-up and ready to Raunch 'n' Roll!!!! The pot smoke was so thick in the air that you couldn't see from one side of the arena to the other. And then the P.A. bellowed ".......The world's most primo boogie band, Black Oak Arkansas!!!!" Jim Dandy to the Rescue, and they absolutely were out to make Mother's Day a real mutha! I had to say that, yeah! And all the new songs were so incredible. When most artists do new material at a show, people tend to sit on their hands waiting for something familiar. But not with BOA, and certainly not on this night. And then, finally, came: "You say you want to get. . . . . . . . .HOT. . . . . . . .aaaaannnnd. . . . . . . . . .NAAASSSSTTTYYYYY!!!!!!", Dork's drums explode in sound, and my mind does as well, and the band just blows us all into blissful oblivion........

Maybe the biggest highlight came after the show was over, when a bunch of us chased down the tour bus. The band members were leaning out of the bus windows, yelling, smiling, and shaking hands with those who could reach. I tried, but I was just too small. But then The Boys noticed me, and one of them said, "Come on, little bro!", and I jumped up with all my might, he reached down, and pulled me up by the arm, and suddenly, I was face to face with the best bass player on the planet, the Dirty Man himself!!!! It was a moment I will never forget. Everybody went nuts!!!!!! Awwwllll-Rrrriggghhhttttt!!!!!!!!!!!